Today's vehicles offer an ever-increasing array of services and products that enhance the driving experience and increase passenger safety. Turn-by-turn directions, airbag deployment notifications, various infotainment products, and voice and data communications are but a few examples.
One type of vehicle system that provides such services and products is based on telematics. In general, telematics-based systems utilize a combination of wireless voice and data technologies to communicate between vehicle-installed hardware and a remote back-end facility, such as a call center. Most telematics-based systems require some type of account activation or registration before the telematics-based system will provide services to the vehicle hardware, however, such activation typically costs money and takes time to perform.
Furthermore, it is not uncommon for a prospective customer to encounter a vehicle with a telematics-based system, such a navigation system, that is either inactive or that is not configured to take advantage of the complete set of telematics-based services being offered. For instance, telematics-based systems in new vehicles are typically not activated by the manufacturer, while those in used vehicles are oftentimes deactivated by the previous owner so that they do not have to continue paying for services. Moreover, even if activated, subscribers oftentimes sign up for less than the whole bundle of offered services, and some services are only accessible while the vehicle is being operated.
Because telematics-based services can have an impact on a prospective customer's purchasing decision, in-vehicle demonstrations are highly desirable, as opposed to other forms of less hands-on demonstrations, such as video presentations.